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Social media continues to be full of fake animal rescue videos that are fooling viewers and causing significant harm to countless animals globally.
We take an in-depth look at the disturbing trend, including a recent report that highlights just how widespread the problem is.
What are fake animal rescue videos?
Fake animal rescue videos have been popular on social media for a few years now and, despite countless animals suffering, the major social media companies are seemingly powerless to stop them.
The creators of the staged rescues often follow a disturbing pattern of deliberately placing animals in dangerous situations, only to ‘rescue’ them on camera.
This not only causes immediate physical and psychological harm to the animals but also perpetuates a cycle of abuse.
They often include the same animals being used over and over again. Most likely until they die.
And it’s usually the same theme; a kitten being eaten by a python, a puppy stuck in a flooded drain, or a deer stuck in a pit.
They involve animals being trapped, attacked, or in distress before being ‘rescued’ (and filmed, of course).
The truth is these ‘rescuers’ are the ones who stage the situations in order to make themselves seem like a hero.
The heartbreaking truth behind animal rescue videos
Animals are often taken from the streets and put in positions where they must fight to protect their babies or other animals.
These videos, often made in developing countries, are designed to be heartwarming, but the truth is they are heartbreaking.
As mentioned above, ultimately, the subject animal will likely die during filming of the fake animal rescue.
In order to get around that, the creators will edit the videos to end them with earlier footage of the animal before they died.
Well-meaning people engage with these videos, which allows the creators to earn a profit, often equating to big money.
Report highlights growing trend of online animal abuse
A recent report by the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) highlights just how significant and widespread online fake animal rescue videos are.
The report – by the group comprising 29 animal welfare organisations – highlights the shocking increase and the growing sophistication of those making the videos.
It also details the urgency for social media companies like YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook to take stronger measures to identify and remove such harmful content.
Read SMACC’s report to learn more about staged animal rescues and what needs to be done to stop them.
How to spot the online animal abuse
Fake animal rescue videos are actually very easy to spot, once you know what to look for.
The trends are often the same; the scene, location, even the animal, appear in multiple videos.
To spot fake animal rescue videos, look for repetitive themes and settings.
Often, the same animals and locations even appear in multiple videos on the same channel.
The fake clips are almost always accompanied by extremely cheesy music, along with subtitles with poor grammar.
Additionally, the behaviour of the ‘rescuer’ towards the animal can be a giveaway; in fake animal rescues, they are often mishandled.
Another telltale sign of a fake animal rescue video is the way the creator responds to criticism.
If they respond rudely, or turn the comments off all together, then it’s almost certainly a fake.
These channels often have millions of views per video and have hundreds of thousands of subscribers on You Tube.
Questions to ask yourself if deciding whether animal rescue videos is legitimate or fake
If the video involves someone randomly happening upon an animal in need of rescue, it is likely fake.
Does the video involve a reputable organisation, such as a legitimate animal welfare agency or emergency service?
Does it seem unusual that someone is filming this? Would the rescue be made easier or quicker if the person filming was actually assisting with the rescue?
When looking at multiple videos, does it look like the same animal and location?
Is there any other description or context given? Legitimate organisations will always provide a description of the video and how they help in the rescue.
How does the ‘rescuer’ interact with the animal? In a fake animal rescue video, the ‘rescuer’ often mishandles the animal once rescued.
Genuine animal organisations campaign to end the online cruelty
Many animal rescue organisations are campaigning to end fake online animal rescue videos.
The organisations are also campaigning for greater awareness of the staged animal rescues.
They’ve urged social media companies, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, to take stronger measures to identify and remove the clips.
FOUR PAWS in Australia has been campaigning for an end to these staged videos.
World Animal Protection Australia also conducted their own investigation into this disturbing trend.
The organisation is urging social media platforms, such as You Tube, to do more to stop animals suffering for profit.
FAQ’s
Yes, many animal rescue videos on social media are staged. These videos are created for profit, exploiting animals and misleading viewers.
Look for repetitive scenarios, the same animals appearing in multiple videos, overly dramatic music, and poor grammar in subtitles. Also, observe how the ‘rescuer’ interacts with the animal; mishandling is often seen in staged videos.
Report the video to the social media platform where you found it. Also, consider informing animal welfare organisations that are campaigning against such content.
The primary motive is to earn money through views and clicks. These videos often garner a lot of attention and can be monetised, especially on platforms like YouTube.
These videos often involve putting animals in stressful and harmful situations, leading to physical and psychological trauma. In some cases, it can even lead to the death of the animals involved.
Yes, sharing these videos can inadvertently support and promote the creators, encouraging them to continue producing such harmful content. It’s important to verify the authenticity of rescue videos before sharing them.
Unfortunately people don’t use their brains. Dogmeat market rescue is so sickening and great for click bait. FB and YT don’t do a thing about it. If you report it, they are just as blind as the people who thank these so called rescuers.
How to report fake animal rescue sites,makes me so angry but their is not a category and many are from the same account
so, where do we report the scams and fake scenes?
Hi Larry, if you see a fake rescue on social media you can report it immediately; they all have options on the videos/content to report it. Animal Friendly Life team
Facebook and You tube do not care you can report to SMACCoalition.com. ladyfreethinker.org.
Thanks for that feedback, that’s really helpful to know where they can be reported to. Thanks for sharing!
I have been an animal lover since I was a child and it breaks my heart when I see what people do to animals for entertainment money that is also the reason why I am a dedicated vegan
HI Inge, it is absolutely heartbreaking. We are trying to raise awareness so people can spot them and not engage and hopefully social media companies will do something serious about them real soon. Animal Friendly Life team
Faked animal rescue videos are a black stain on society.
Things I’ve noticed:
Same emotion laddened music
The long camera time of the suffering animal before ‘rescued’
Thinking “put down the camera and do something”
The in need animal appears ugly dirty ‘groomed’ evenly, nicely.
You question how rough the rescuer is in holding and petting.
Unrealistic healing and recovery from heinous situations.
Country of origin. Poor grammar. Despondent condition of the peoples.
The rescuers are not seen except for hands.
No legit rescue organization. Can so many people really ‘find’ help and keep so many animals?
People seen in scenes are neatly and cleaning dressed despite surroundings.
Just a few I’ve noticed.
Sudden discovery of animal
Hi there, sorry we only just saw your reply as it went to our spam folder for some reason! yes agree, they are all very good signs that something isn’t right. Thanks for sharing, hopefully we can educate others to know when to spot a scam and not share or like it. Animal Friendly Life team.
I clued in to the fact this going on just this week on my own.
The bottom line is that true compassion demands immediacy. A true hero doesn’t whip out their smart phone when they see a baby monkey laying in the rain. These are not different than snuff videos in my opinion and should fall under the same policy umbrellas. Facebook is honestly degraded crap in many regards and this is one of them.
Exactly! Once you think about it and realise that any kind hearted person’s natural instinct isn’t to record on their phone, then it’s really easy to spot the fakes!
Thank you so much for informing me on this. People (like me) get so drawn in emotionally and are so heartwarmed to see the animal “recover” that we would NEVER consider the story being different! I am now convinced that basically all of these “animal rescue” videos are staged. Once you are aware and look for it, you see the same ‘fishy’ signs and how unrealistic they are in many ways. Horrible, unimaginable cruelty. May Jesus come soon. God bless you.
Hi Emily, that’s so true- we would never naturally think anything bad or that people would be so cruel. So it’s understandable how so many people get drawn into the videos naively.
Thanks for your feedback!
AFL team
I alternately report or “hide” these posts (theoretically it tells the social media platform that I don’t want to see them) but it seems to have no effect. I’d comment on the videos to tell the ignorant people who seem to believe them, but of course interacting with the post would be counter-productive, so I don’t. These videos and shameful acts are out of control, every single day I see many – and yet I don’t think I have ever seen a post that educates people about it. Would it be possible for organisations such as yours to create shareable posts? I for one would share it far and wide.
That’s a good point, showing that you’re not even going to watch it sends a strong message.
Youtube is part of this. And I will tell you what the problem is in my opinion. A few years back you wouldn’t have been able to delete the comments you didn’t like as a Youtube channel owner. Now you can. I know a fake rescue channel from Bulgaria that delete every comment I write about the fact the rescues are fake. And people see just nice,good comments and of course they think it’s a legit channel. On top of that,now you can’t see how many dislikes a video have. A few years back if you had seen 10k likes and 55k dislikes,you would have known that something is wrong. Now they took that away as well. So is much much more easy for a fake channel to be successful now than a few years ago. And sorry if I made any mistakes,english is not my 1’st language
It is heartbreaking what they do to the animals. YouTube is part of the evil spreading as they will do nothing against propagating the cruelty… they are only to prevent people posting an opinion different than the acceptable narrative of lies is. There are more and more channels appearing with some vague names and titles telling the story of this tormented animal in one sentence to attract viewers… It goes like… “the dog cried in agony because the owner did… or the cat was dead and the kittens were thrown in the garbage by the owner… or the cat was skeletonized and waiting to die… until this happened”… and so on. The fake rescue channels grow with the speed of the light. It doesn’t take a genius to know that it is fake as if they know the story so why didn’t they protect the animal from the abuse? Why filming the suffering or death?… People should starve the channels by avoiding them and I really wish for some investigators to get to the abusers and bring them to justice for all of their demonic actions.
Hi Maria, yes I completely agree. And sadly I’ve also noticed more and more of these videos appearing on social media in recent months, so even the growing awareness doesn’t seem to be stopping people from creating it. We just need people to be aware I guess and not to engage in it otherwise it will keep happening 😔 Michelle